


The Wingman Project

by alrightginger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien the wingman, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Marinette the helpless pining idiot, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27251551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alrightginger/pseuds/alrightginger
Summary: When Marinette admits to having a crush on Chat Noir, Adrien decides to play her wingman.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 107
Kudos: 570
Collections: LoveSquare





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [womeninthesequel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/womeninthesequel/gifts).



> For Marieka. The Lily to my James, and hopefully the Ladybug to my Chat if I can bully you into it one day?
> 
> Is this a proposal? 
> 
> Maybe.

**The Wingman Project**

The first time he visits her, it's after she's broken up with Luka.

She's laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling when there's a tapping sound on her window and she looks over to see Chat Noir standing there, tail swishing about angrily. She opens the latch without much of a fuss because, in all honesty, she _wants_ to see him.

Also because she's curious.

He never visits her as Marinette.

And it's not so much the fact that he's visiting her, but, rather, the fact that he _knows_ that she and Luka have broken up, which she thinks as odd.

It's the first thing he says when he slinks through her window, that fact that he's heard and wants to know if she's okay.

It makes her consider the fact that they may know each other outside of their superhero lives. Though, she doesn't let onto this thought.

She keeps it tightly concealed until she's ready to deal with it.

The way she does with all of her other feelings revolving around Chat Noir.

"Was he the one to do it?" he asks, crouched down like a...well, a _cat,_ on her floor as she sits across from him.

His tone is nearly murderous and so _unlike_ her Chaton that she raises an eyebrow in his direction.

"No," she says. "It was me. I'm the one who ended things between us."

This softens him, his ears perking upwards instead of laying down flat on his head. "But why?" he presses. "I thought you loved him."

"I did. I do," she admits. "Just - just not enough. Not in the way a girlfriend _should_ love her boyfriend."

Chat considers this, his head tilted while Marinette considers him. It's hard to study her partner while Paris is under attack. Harder still to catch him in a moment of contemplation where every inch of him seems relaxed, and he isn't making her groan with his use of puns.

There's an ache of familiarity around him that Marinette can never place. One she usually chalks up to the fact that they _are_ partners and have been for three years now so of course they'd know each other.

Sometimes she feels as though she knows him better than she knows herself.

But lately...it seems like more than that.

"Luka was a good boyfriend," Chat says finally. Almost begrudgingly. "So I guess I just don't understand why you broke up with him."

Marinettes' lips quirk. "He was a good boyfriend. There's nothing about him personally that made me want to end it. I could have probably stayed with him forever and would have probably been content."

"But that isn't what you wanted?"

She shakes her head, her hair brushing her shoulders in a way it never would have back when she still wore pigtails.

It's longer now. Different. Like the rest of her.

"I don't want to be just content," she says, sighing. "I know that doesn't make sense, but I just… I want _more."_

She doesn't want to look at her life and think, _this is fine. Just fine._

She deserves more than that, doesn't she?

She certainly feels as if she does.

She isn't one to take things, greedily claiming them as her own, but if she could, there would be just one thing she would ask for.

"I think I get what you mean," Chat tells her. "Even though I think I have the opposite problem, personally."

Marinette blinks at him. "What do you mean?"

He pauses for a moment, looking at her in a way that makes her skin prickle in little goosebumps. He swallows and she tracks the bobbing of his Adam's apple with her eyes.

"I know what I want, and I want it so badly I don't think I'll ever be content without it."

Her heart sinks for a reason she can't quite place, because she _knows_ what it is that he wants, and, in a way, it's her.

"Ladybug," she comments simply.

His lips quirk, but he says nothing. He doesn't have to. She knows that's what he wants. It's what he's wanted for so long now, and it feels ridiculous to be jealous over herself.

Because in a way, it's her that he wants.

But, in another altogether different way, it's not.

He doesn't know who it is behind the mask. Chat doesn't realize that it's clumsy Marinette that stands next to him each time they've saved Paris from another Akuma attack.

And he _can't_ know.

No matter how much it is that she wants him too.

* * *

School seems to fair better for Marinette since getting over her crush on Adrien.

They're friends now. _Good_ friends if she had to judge for herself.

Entirely too close of friends if she were to ask someone like Chloe.

But the fact of the matter is - no matter who you ask - they're friends, the two of them.

Though, her heart still flutters a bit when she first spots him waiting for her once class is over for the day, but she chalks that up to habit rather than the possibility that she still could possibly like him deep down. It's like a phantom limb of a feeling, she tells herself. Lingering and remaining even though it's not really there.

"Are you going straight home?" he asks when she stops in front of him.

"Yeah. I have so much homework," she groans. "If I don't start now, I'll never catch up."

"I'll walk you home then."

"Oh! You don't have to do that. Don't you have fencing practice today, anyway?"

"Canceled," he tells her, already picking up his bag and adjusting it as he smiles at her. "So I'm free for a bit."

Marinette bites her bottom lip. Three years ago she would have nearly fainted at the chance to have Adrien walk her home. Surely that's why she feels so light headed over the possibility of it now. Fourteen year old Marinette is just channeling her, attempting to cause her to have a spasm attack.

"Okay," she says, managing to keep her tone even. Pleasant. There's not a trace of squeal in it. "That's really nice of you, Adrien."

"I know," he says, grinning in a way that's somehow familiar but unlike him.

"Put that away," she tells him, booping him on the nose as she walks past him and attempting not to blush.

She's been seeing this side of him more and more since they've gotten closer. He's cocky in ways she would have never considered. Maybe it comes with being a model, or maybe he's always been this way and she was never close enough to see it. She isn't sure.

What she does know is that she _likes_ this side of him.

It makes her swoon just a bit, and reminds her of someone else entirely.

"Did you see Chat Noir make a fool out of himself yesterday?" he asks her, starling her out of her thoughts.

At the mention of Chat Noir she can't fully fight the blush that flames her cheeks this time.

"He did not," she protests, her need to defend her partner coming through. "He was very brave yesterday."

"I don't know. I think Ladybug could have handled that Akuma all on her own. Sometimes I wonder if he just gets in the way."

"He doesn't! Everyone thinks of him as a sidekick, but he's not. He's her partner. Without him, Ladybug would be in trouble. She _has_ been in trouble without him."

Adrien stares down at her, wide eyed. "Didn't know you were a Chat Noir fan."

"Of course I am," she says forcefully. "Paris would be lost without him. So would Ladybug, for that matter."

"I didn't mean any harm," Adrien says, holding his hands up in surrender and still smiling. "It's just not everyday you run into someone who likes Chat Noir more than they do Ladybug."

Marinette shrugs, smirking. "Ladybug is alright."

"Alright? _Alright?"_ Adrien repeats, leaning into her. "Ladybug is more than _alright._ She's the amazing one."

"I forgot about your crush on Ladybug," Marinette says, laughing.

She wonders how quickly his crush would diminish if he found out that Ladybug is her.

Likely she'd be able to watch it whither away before her very eyes.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

" _Everyone_ loves Ladybug," she says with a sigh, "but no one really knows who she is. What she's like underneath the mask."

"She's Paris' hero," Adrien says. "I can't imagine who she is underneath the mask would be any less amazing than who she is with it."

 _If only you knew,_ she thought to herself.

She seriously doubted that Adrien would be anything less than disappointed if he knew. Not that he would ever believe her, she thought. Just last week she had tripped over nothing and plummeted straight into him.

He had caught her and set her upright with as much charm and grace as a gentleman like Adrien possessed, but clumsy Marinette would not be anyone's first guess for who Ladybug is behind the mask.

"She's _one_ of Paris' heroes," she counters.

"And we're back to Chat Noir again," Adrien teases, raising an eyebrow at her. "If I didn't know better, I'd say _you_ had a crush on _him."_

Marinette freezes, coming to a full stop in the middle of the sidewalk. She stares back at Adrien with wide eyes.

"Oh my god," Adrien says, stopping in front of her and grinning. " _Oh my god!_ You _do_ have a crush on him, don't you?"

" _No,_ I don't," Marinette denies, finally managing to find her voice a beat too late. Adrien already knows. "I mean, maybe I do, but I - I _can't_ like him."

What she doesn't say aloud is the fact that she can't like him because she's _Ladybug,_ and Chat is her _partner._

It's wrong, this feeling she has for him. It shouldn't exist and yet it does, and she had been content just to keep it locked up inside of a box for the rest of her life.

"Is there some rule that says you can't like Chat Noir?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe the fact that he's _a masked superhero?_ Or what about the fact that I really don't know who he is?"

Adrien rolls his eyes. "Like that stopped me from crushing on Ladybug when I was fourteen."

"You _still_ like Ladybug."

"Maybe," Adrien says, grinning. It's a different sort of grin on him, and yet so familiar that it makes Marinette take a step back. "Maybe I like somehow else now."

Marinette snorts. "That's likely."

Adrien takes a step closer towards her, and it takes everything within Marinette not to take a step back. He's looking at her like he's got a challenge, and she's never one to shy away from them, so she meets him in the eyes and raises her eyebrows.

"I could help you, you know," he tells her, leaning down just slightly. She can see the curve of his smirk and tries to not let her eyes linger on it. "With your crush, I mean."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know Chat Noir," Adrien presses. "I could be your wingman."

" _You_ know _Chat Noir,"_ she says, crossing her arms in disbelief. "What? Are you guys buddies?"

Adrien shrugs. "Sort of. He's saved me more than once. I think I could honestly help you with this."

Marinette shakes her head, walking past him in disbelief. It doesn't take long for Adrien to catch up with her, and she can still see his smirk from the corner of her eye.

"The only help I need with this is helping getting over it," she tells him forcefully. "It's just a crush. It's nothing something that needs to be acted on, or pursued."

"What if he was the one pursuing you? Would you feel differently?"

"Why would he even do that?" Marinette questions with a laugh. She bumps his shoulder with her fist. "You're the one who is friends with him. Not me. He doesn't even know I exist."

 _That_ is a flat out lie, but Adrien didn't know that.

Though he certainly looks down at her as if he knows he's caught her in a lie. His eyes narrow and his smirk turns so sinister, his nose crinkles.

"Really? He doesn't know that you exist at all. You're nowhere on his radar?"

"He doesn't and I'm not," she says, sticking to her story. There's no way he can prove her wrong. "And he's never going to. I'm just Marinette. I'm no one special."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I absolutely am not."

"Mari," he says, grabbing her by the elbow and making her stop. "You've got to be kidding me. You're like - one of the best people I know. You're thoughtful and kind and brave. You're one of my best friends. You're incredibly special."

Marinette's face flushes at Adrien's words, and she looks at the ground because he's suddenly too bright to look at. Fourteen year old Marinette would have felt her heart pound at the words and sunk into them. Seventeen year old Marinette tries to ignore the sensation.

"You're one of my best friends too," she says. "But that doesn't mean I'm anything special to Chat Noir."

He lets go of her elbow to place two fingers underneath her chin, forcing it to tilt up so she has to look at him. His smile is softer around the edges now.

"You really are blind," he says affectionately. "Aren't you?"

Marinette snorts, swatting his hand away without much force "You're crazy."

She pushes past him, the smell of the bakery guiding her home. He doesn't follow this time, instead watching her go with his hands tucked in his pockets.

"I'm still going to play wingman!" he calls after her after she's gotten a few steps away from him.

"No you are not!" she yells back, turning towards him and walking backwards. "Your services are not needed!"

"Is he the reason you broke up with Luka?"

_How does he know that I broke up with Luka?_

Marinette doesn't bother giving him an answer, cupping her hands together over her mouth instead and shouting, "Goodbye Adrien!"

The last thing she hears before she disappears into the doors of her parent's bakery is his laughter.

* * *

It's after an Akuma attack when Marinette returns to her house, exhausted and thankfully with her transformed dropped, and finds Chat back in her room.

She can make out the top of his head over her computer chair, one of his ears twitching in her direction as she enters.

She pauses at the door briefly, both surprised to see him and wondering how on earth he isn't positively worn out after the battle they just had. Surely he had to stop and let his Kwami recharge afterwards or he wouldn't be here. Marinette subconsciously pats her bag where Tikki is resting with a cookie.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, eyeing her bed appreciatively.

She wonders what it says about her, the fact that she feels comfortable enough to nap around him.

He turns, spinning in her computer chair, but his eyes aren't focused on her. Instead, they're skimming through a stack of papers. His mouth quirks slightly as he shuffles through them, and Marinette feels her stomach drop. She knows exactly what those stacks of photos are, but she thought she had disposed of them a long time ago. Apparently she must have just left them in a desk drawer, and Chat had gone snooping and found them.

" _Someone_ has a crush on Paris' golden boy," Chat teases, turning the cover of a magazine in her direction so she can see a thoughtful Adrien Agreste peering back at her.

"I do not," she denies, stalking up to him. Honestly, what is with these boys and their incessant need to figure out who she has a crush on. "Give those back."

"Oh, come on, Princess," he says, standing and holding the photos above her head. He smirks at her failed attempts of reaching them. "These are all photos of Adrien. Every single one of them. I'm not stupid, you know."

Marinette stops her pathetic excuses at snatching the photos, running a hand through her hair and huffing.

"Fine, okay. Maybe I did have a crush on him at one point, but I don't anymore. That was ages ago."

His ears droop for a peculiar second. "You don't like him anymore?"

"No, I - I like him. Of course I like him. Just, back then I liked him _so much_ that it affected my ability to even talk to him. I couldn't form a coherent sentence."

"Huh," Chat clucks, dropping his arm once he's sure Marinette has given up. "I always thought you hated him."

"How would you even —"

"You can talk to him now, though? You really do like him?"

"Of course I like him. He's one of my very best friends."

Chat smiles and there's no mirth to it. "That's what he told me too."

Marinette whirls to look at him, horrified. She hadn't expected Adrien to actually _know_ Chat, let alone talk to him.

"What _else_ did he tell you?" she demands. "Wait — so Adrien really _does_ know you? I thought he was making that up!"

"Unfortunately for you, no he wasn't. I happened to run into him the other night, and he had some very... _interesting_ things to say concerning my favorite little Princess."

"Ugh! I'm going to kill him! I can't believe him!"

"Oh, come now, _P_ _urrincess,"_ he says, getting dangerously close to her and leaning down so they're at eye level. "You don't mean that, surely. I mean, you _did_ have a crush on him at one point."

Her heart is pounding, but it isn't from the fact that Chat is teasing her over a past crush. Her eyes dart to his lips, and she bites down on her own bottom lip. She's kissed those lips before. Three years ago when it didn't as much to her then as it would now, and he doesn't even remember.

"I did have a crush on him, but not anymore," she says again. She takes a step back to steady herself, thinking that if she can only put some distance between them she'll be able to think straight, but, like always, he follows.

His claws drag across the desk as he walks with her, his other hand propped up on his hip with the pictures of Adrien still clutched tightly.

"Someone else caught your attention then?" he asks, looking like he very well knows the answer to his own question.

"Maybe," she breathes.

Her back hits the wall, and Chat places a clawed hand on one side of her head. He looks like he's caught a canary, the way he's staring at her so intently.

"Anyone I know?"

"Chat…"

She absolutely refuses to whimper, clamping her mouth so tightly shut that her mouth goes into a thin line.

He _knows._

There's no way he doesn't know.

He knows, and he's enjoying lording it over her head. Teasing her, taunting her.

And, _god,_ why is this side of him so attractive to her?

"Hmm," he hums, his ears twitching. "What was that? Cat got your tongue?"

And maybe it's because of his stupid sense of humor, and the fact that he's frustrated her to the point that she can't think straight.

Or maybe it's the fact that he's _Chat,_ her dearest friend, and she lets herself look at him as Marinette in a way she never allows herself to as Ladybug. She sees him for what he is at that moment. A boy who has freshly crossed over into manhood, and he looks so damn handsome, and she is a weak, weak girl who can't control herself. Who doesn't _want_ to control herself.

Either way, she does the only thing she can think of to silence him and presses her lips to his.

In his shock, he drops the photos of Adrien and they flutter across her floor, scattering every which way. She's vaguely aware that she's stepping on Adrien's face to get better access to Chat's lips, but he recovers from his shock a moment later and she forgets all about the photos as she's pressed further against the wall.

It's meant to be a quick kiss. That's what she had intended. Something short to shut him up and get it out of her system.

Except it's _not._ There's nothing fleeting or simple about the way one of his hands wraps around her waist, making her back arch against the wall. The only quick thing about the kiss is how fast her hands thread their way into his hair, reaching up to tweak one of his ears in the process and causing him to growl against her lips.

She's vaguely aware that her knees are going weak, that she's falling apart against him, and she doesn't want to do anything to stop it.

She clings to him tighter, her hands helplessly gripping the leather material of his catsuit, and he seems to realize the state that she's in and easily lifts her so that her legs are wrapped around his waist. She whines her thanks against his lips, opening her mouth and tilting her head to give him better access, and letting her tongue brush against one of his fangs that she's certain isn't there whenever he's not Chat. She likes the sensation of fang against tongue so much - and so does he, apparently, if his groan is any indicator - that she does it again.

She's able to give more of herself in this position, and he takes it all willingly.

Her hand is gripping the hair at the nape of his neck as his lips move down her own, pulling and tugging as his teeth occasionally graze her skin, when she thinks to herself that just this once, she'll let Adrien live.

Just this once, she'll let it slide.

Just so long as Chat keeps paying attention to the place just shy of her collarbone.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, getting Marichat into a room together: Well that got out of hand quickly.

**Chapter Two**

The next day she changes her mind.

She's absolutely going to _murder_ Adrien.

He's sitting beside her in class, having convinced Alya to trade seats with him through some sort of witchcraft, Marinette is sure, and looking over at her with the occasional smirk.

He _knows._

She isn't sure how much he knows, but the love bite blossoming on her neck is pretty damning enough.

She had attempted to cover it this morning with make up, but there hadn't been enough time to do a proper job, considering the fact that she had woken up ten minutes before the school day was even supposed to start.

Just her luck.

She wonders if he's enjoying this, her squirming underneath his gaze. She certainly isn't. She feels as if she's on fire, and Adrien is holding gasoline over top of her, waiting for just the right moment to douse her and cause a second burst of flames.

She scrunches her nose up at him the next time he glances over at her, and he responds in kind by crossing his eyes at her.

Despite herself, it makes her giggle and she tries to disguise it as a cough so she doesn't get called down in the middle of class.

A note slides its way across the table, landing in front of her, and she glances down to see Adrien's neat handwriting scrawled across it.

**Had fun last night, did you?**

Marinette rolls her eyes, making sure that their teacher is focused on the notes she's giving — and that Marinette _should_ be taking — before she writes back.

_It could have happened this morning for all you know. I don't see how it's really any of your business._

Adrien snorts when she passes the note back, and even _that's_ pretty on him. It really isn't fair.

**Come on, Marinette! Don't you want to at least say thank you? Tell me I did an amazing job at playing wingman?**

**(And we both know you wouldn't wake up early, even if it** _**was** _ **to make out with Chat Noir.)**

_You're ridiculous. I can't believe you actually know him. I honestly thought you were pulling one over on me._

_(And if anyone could convince me to wake up early, it would probably be Chat.)_

**Have I ever lied to you? So… how was it?**

_Adrien._

**Humor me. Is he a good kisser? Your wingman deserves to know.**

_He is...a very good kisser. I was thoroughly pleased. That's all I'll say._

**Are you planning on kissing him again?**

Marinette pauses at that. _Is_ she planning on kissing him again? She doesn't know. They hadn't actually _talked_ last night. They had been otherwise preoccupied, and Marinette doesn't know exactly where they stand at the moment.

She _wants_ to kiss him again.

There's a whole list of things she wants to do to him, and kissing some more is definitely on it.

She bites her lip, wishing it could be Chat's teeth grazing her bottom lip instead. That's when she knows she's got it bad. She's never felt this way about anyone before. Not even Luka.

Luka never kissed her the way Chat had last night. Luka kissed her sweetly, safely. Just the simple brushing of lips together. When he pulled away, she always felt as if it hadn't really happened.

But Chat...

Chat had…

Chat had kissed her as if he had waited his whole life to do so.

He kissed her as if she were fierce, and he could handle it. As if she were fire, but he licked at her flames, fanning them until she was fully bursting for him.

She wants to be kissed like that again.

But before she can decide whether or not she wants to tell _Adrien_ that, there's an Akuma attack, and duty calls.

* * *

Chat is furious with her, something she isn't used to as Ladybug.

But she's finding it hard to blame him for his fury at the moment. It seems rightfully placed, considering the fact that she very nearly sacrificed herself in the middle of a particularly rough Akuma battle.

Not that she had _meant_ to. In all honesty, she had zipped in on her yo-yo without thinking first, and had nearly paid the price.

They're getting more vicious as time goes on, the Akumas. As if Hawkmoth is running out of time to do whatever it is he needs to do.

Ladybug's plan nearly failed back there, resulting in her being nearly pummeled to death.

Chat had lost it, nearly taking down the Akuma in the process, and Ladybug hadn't missed the way he carried her so tenderly when she was too weak to walk. Almost like a bride. He had a clawed hand in hair, stroking her and begging her to stay awake. Her eyes had dropped but she promised him that she would, and she did. She stayed awake long enough to right everything.

But Chat tears into her now like nothing is right.

"Are you _crazy?"_ he shouts at her after everything.

After they've each let their Kwamis recharge, and they're sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower in the dark. Well, Ladybug is sitting, nursing a headache that didn't seem to magically disappear along with everything else, but she feels loads better than she did before.

But that's not enough to appease Chat.

He's towering over top of her, ears flatten on the top of his head. If he really were a cat, she suspected his fur would be sticking straight up.

"I didn't - I didn't think it would go that badly," she says softly. _I didn't think I would nearly die,_ she keeps to herself. It's only Tikki's magic that kept her alive, she knows.

"I told you we needed to stall. That we needed to regroup and figure out a different plan," Chat rants, his fists clenched. He's never spoken to her this way before, but she knows he's frightened. "But you decided just to rush in without even thinking...without even considering -"

He trails off with a growl, stalking away from her. His tail is swishing wildly around. Ladybug stands, gingerly. Her head is still hurting, and she feels slightly wobbly on her own feet.

"I'm sorry, okay," she says, reaching out to grab his arm. He refuses to look at her, and her heart sinks. "I didn't mean - I didn't think -"

"You didn't think what? That your plan could fail? That I could _lose_ you?" Chat hisses, whirling around. He towers over top of her now after three years, and she has to force herself to keep meeting his eyes. To not wilt underneath them. "God _dammit,_ Marinette! Do you have any idea how terrified I was when you didn't get up right away?"

They both freeze at that, staring at the other and waiting for some sort of reaction. Chat's ears perk back up and his eyes go wide. He hadn't planned to let that slip, she knows. She wonders if he ever meant to tell her that he knew at all.

"How did you - how do you -"

She can't seem to form a full sentence around him, and she wonders if maybe she has a concussion after everything they've been through today.

"I've known for over a year now," he admits, his tone increasingly softer than it was before. She watches the shift wash over him, and her Chaton is back. "I didn't mean to find out. Really, I didn't. I just...sort of did."

"I don't understand. I've been so careful. I _thought_ I was being so careful."

Her whole world is spinning, and she isn't sure it's from the blow to her head this time. Chat knows. He knows she's Marinette. He knew Marinette was Ladybug when he kissed her.

"You were. You _are,"_ Chat comforts her. "It was a complete accident that I found out. It was...something you said that gave it away."

Ladybug blinks at this. "Something I said? That you heard in your civilian form or…"

Chat nods.

"So, we know each other? Outside of the mask?"

Another nod.

"And you know who I am, but I don't know who you are…"

A shrug this time.

"Is that why…"

_Is that why you kissed me? Because you knew I was Ladybug, and that's all that matters to you? Is that the only reason?_

She keeps the question to herself because she can't seem to voice it. She's _scared_ to ask it, and she feels like a coward.

But it doesn't matter. Chat knows what she means, he always does, and he takes her hands in his.

"No," he says forcefully. "No, my lady. Don't even think that. I kissed you as Marinette because I wanted to. Because I've wanted to for a long time. Marinette being Ladybug and Ladybug being Marinette isn't a big deal to me. You're still _you,_ and I adore all sides of you. I think you're just as amazing without the mask as you are with it."

The words sound familiar, as if she's heard them before, but she can't focus on that right now. Her head hurts, and Chat's confession isn't helping.

Her eyes begin to water before she can stop them, and she presses her head into his chest.

"Oh, my lady," he says, wrapping his arms around her and letting his chin rest on the top of her head. "Please don't cry. I'm sorry for being so upset. I'm sorry for knowing who you are when you've worked so hard at keeping it a secret."

"It's not that," she says, shaking her head against his chest. The little bell attached to his suit _dings_ as she does. "It's just so much to handle right now. You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are. And I kissed you without really knowing who you are…"

She feels Chat swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly against her. "Do you regret what happened between us? Do you not want it to happen again?"

"No — I mean, _yes,"_ she says, looking up at him. "I don't regret what happened at all. I want it to happen again. And again and again. But I — I just…"

_I don't know who you are. Who you really are, and I'm not sure I'm ready to find out._

"What is it, my lady?"

"When — when you found out I was me," she starts, spreading her fingers across his chest. "Did it _change_ anything? Was it awkward when you saw me as Marinette and knew that I was Ladybug?"

_Were you disappointed at all? Even in the beginning? Even just a little bit?_

There's so much she can't seem to say to him, but he places two clawed fingers underneath her chin, forcing her to look at him.

He's smiling at her like a man in love and her heart flutters.

"If it changed anything, it was for the better. I _adore_ you. Both sides of you. Both as Chat and as my civilian self."

She can't seem to look away from him.

"Do we know each other well? Outside of the mask?"

"I could tell you. If you wanted me to, I could tell you who I am."

His thumb is tracing her bottom lip now, and lips part. The tip of his claw catches on it gently.

"Not just yet," she says. "I'm not ready yet. Give me just a bit more time."

He doesn't seem put off by this. He's always been so very patient with her.

"Whatever you need, My Lady, I'll make it happen," he says, tilting his head as he smiles. "What shall we do instead?"

She isn't sure if it's her head still being light that makes her brave or the fact she really does want to kiss him again, but she takes the claw of his thumb in her mouth and sucks gently.

She watches his eyes blow wide.

And then she manages to get him to make the same expression several more times after that.

* * *

They settle into a routine after that.

A routine that involves a lot of kissing, and, on Chat's part, nuzzling, apparently.

She's pinned underneath him on her pink bed, her head resting on her cat pillow, and his head is nuzzling every part of her it can reach.

She hadn't realized just how much like a cat he truly is until that moment, and she can feel the purr vibrating through the tips of her fingers as she tugs on the little bell that apparently acts as a zipper for his cat suit.

It goes down easily, and her fingers find the exciting new terrain of the bare skin of a man's chest.

She feels him suck in a breath and, deciding that she wants to hear the sound again, she wraps her legs around his waist, effectively flipping him so he's now the one on his back and she's on top. It's exhilarating, being able to use the strength she possesses and doesn't have to explain now that she knows he's aware she's Ladybug.

He makes a small _oof_ sound in surprise which quickly transforms into a whine as she positions herself on top of him, placing a series of opened mouth kisses down his chest. His hand intertwines itself in her hair, and he's careful not dig his claws into her scalp or tug too roughly, but she can tell by the heaving of his chest that it's taking a great deal of focus.

She wants to break that focus.

The zipper goes down lower and lower, and Marinette, both as someone who desires to work in fashion and someone who enjoys the view below her, appreciates it.

"Marinette," he whines, squirming underneath her and she experimentally rocks her hips against his.

This elicits a hiss which enthralls her so much that she does it again, and her heart pounds with pride as his hands eagerly move to her hips. This time he controls the motions, digging his claws in a bit tighter and rolling her over top of his hips in a series of well aimed thrusts.

She's never seen him this vulnerable, laying underneath her with his mouth slightly parted. It thrills her, and makes her feel brave in an entirely different way than her mask ever does.

He throws his head back, panting slightly, and the way he angles the next thrust _there_ — _just there —_ makes her nearly cry out.

" _Chaton,"_ she whines, practically sobs, without really thinking.

His eyes fly open at her crying of his name, and he sits up, reaching to snake a hand behind her head and crushes their lips together. He flips her again, pinning her hands over top of her head with one of his hands, and continuing his thrusts, wrapping one of her legs around his waist as he does.

And, _oh,_ she likes this angle.

She likes this angle a lot.

He does too, apparently, with the way he buries his head in the crook of her neck to soften a groan.

"Say it again," he whispers so close to her ear. He sounds pained. "Say my name again."

" _Chaton,"_ she gasps this time, raising her hips to meet his own.

He growls this time, his teeth catching the love of her ear and it makes her writhe.

He likes that too, apparently. She's only heard him curse when he's angry before, but he does it now and it sends a shiver down her spine.

"Fuck, Marinette."

She's never done this before. Never been touched this way before, and it's driving her crazy. She wants more, she's about to _beg_ for more, when Chat's ring starts to beep and they both groan for entirely different reasons.

" _Stay,"_ she tries to order but it comes off as pleading. She's not above pleading though.

"Would if I could, My Lady," he says, kissing the tip of her nose. His ring gives another chirp. "But you aren't ready just yet to know who I am, and I'm nothing if not a respectful gentleman."

"Gentlemen don't do what you've just done to me," she says, lifting her hips to prove a point.

He grins wickedly at her. "A scoundrel could do so much worse."

"Hmm," she hums. "And when do I get to meet the scoundrel?"

"As soon as you figure out who I am," he says, placing one last peck on her lips before crawling off of her.

He hops off the bed, tugging his bell back up much to Marinette's disappointment. He quickly puts himself back together while she's certain she looks quite disheveled herself.

What he's said has given her an idea.

"If I wanted to figure out who you are," she starts, "could I do it on my own terms? Could I try to do it by myself without you telling me?"

"You could," he says. "I'm certain you could, if you tried."

"And — and we know each other enough in real life for me to try to figure it out? I know you well enough outside of the mask?"

He smiles at her and it's familiar in an achy sort of way. "You do."

She regards him for a moment, before she finally speaks again.

"Okay," she says. "I'm going to try."

The wink he gives her makes her heart pound louder than the final chirp his ring gives.

"Come find me, My Lady," he says. "I'll be waiting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment! And follow me on tumblr as alrightginger, or insta as alrightgingerwrites :)


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing is getting out of control.

**Chapter Three**

"I really need to get back to class."

"Mmm, I think you're fine right where you are. Anyway, class is likely canceled after that Akuma attack."

" _Chaton."_

"Have I ever told you how much I _adore_ that nickname? I've never quite heard you say it like this though."

He demonstrates his point by grazing his fangs against her neck, tilting her head back to give him better access with a clawed hand on her jaw. Almost as if she has no control over it, she breathes his name again, her eyes rolling back.

He's quite partial to her neck, and she's quite partial to having him there. Against her better judgement, she grabs him by the back of the head, keeping him there as he alternates between biting and sucking. She doesn't want it to ever end, but she knows she's likely going to receive a detention if she shows up late to class again. Chaton's quick work on her neck almost makes her want to skip, but she can't afford a search party either.

Her parents wouldn't be too happy if they found her making out with Chat Noir after suspecting she had gotten hurt or worse after an Akuma attack.

Willing herself back into her right mind, she uses the same hand that she had to keep him at the base of her neck to pull him back off of her. He looks at her with wide dilated eyes, a contrast to the normal slits she sees, and she wonders if she's imagining the unusual length of his cat fangs. If they become more pronounced the more animalistic his desire turns.

She makes a note to find a way to ask TIkki later without embarrassing herself in the process.

"I really _do_ have to go to class," she tells him, though she pouts a little. "As much as I'd love to stay here all day."

Here being a random rooftop they found after the latest Akuma attack where Ladybug listened to her partner more, and suffered less for it.

She had dropped her transformation quickly, fully intending to go straight back to school, but Chat had other plans. His transformation hadn't been in danger of dropping as quickly as her own since they had no need for his Cataclysm today, and he had taken the opportunity to continue where they had left off the night before.

Tikki had gone into Marinette's bag with a poorly restrained laugh.

"I'm late for class too," he admits. It looks like it pains him to do so.

"We can't have you falling behind, Chaton," she teases. "Now can we?"

Her taunting makes him smirk. "I'll have you know that I'm a great student. All of my teachers say I'm a pleasure to have."

"I'm sure they do. Do your cat tendencies stick around when you're in your civilian form? Do you knock beakers over in Chemistry?"

"Hey now," he warns, his threatening tone falling short as he nuzzles her. "I've already taken Chem, and I only pushed one beaker off a table. Maybe two, but that was only due to poor impulse control."

Marinette giggles. "And nuzzling? Is that something that sticks around too? Will I be nuzzled to death when I finally find you?"

"Maybe," he says, nuzzling her harder. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Marinette sighs, both content and dissatisfied. She doesn't want to leave, but she's incandescently happy. It's an odd mixture.

"I should go. If I get another detention I'll be grounded."

"If you woke up earlier, you wouldn't get so many detentions. I wonder why you're so tired. It's not like you're saving Paris or anything."

Marinette starts at this, looking up at Chat with wide eyes.

He's basically just confirmed a thought that has crossed her mind more than once. One that she's had since their talk on the Eiffel Tower.

"Do we - is it possible that we go to the same school?"

He smirks at her, brushing his nose against her own. "Is it cheating if I give you clues?"

"Not if I ask you for them. I'm doing this on my own terms, after all."

"Yes."

Marinette blinks. "Yes?"

"Yes," he says again, smiling at her softly. "It's possible that we go to the same school."

A mixture of something akin to panic and exhilaration flow through her. It's possible that she could see Chat every single day, and just never knew to look for him. He could sit next to her in class, pass her in the hallways. She just needs to look.

She wonders if she's ready for it, but calms herself by telling herself that if she wasn't, she wouldn't notice him.

She won't see him until she's ready.

"Okay," she says, reaching up to rub behind one of his cat ears. He leans into her touch, a pure rumbling through his chest."That's a start. Something I can work with."

"Anything else I can do for you, Princess?"

"Hmm," she hums. "One more thing. Something that's been on my mind about you lately."

"Name it."

"You don't have fangs in real life, do you?"

He flashes a smile at her, fangs bared. She's dragged her tongue across those fangs several times.

"I do not."

* * *

The next day passes without much incident.

There isn't an Akuma attack, which Marinette is thankful for. She's got a mission entirely her own that she wants to focus on, even though she honestly should be paying attention in class.

But she's so close to graduating that she thinks that it probably doesn't matter if she dips out for a bit. She's in the middle of writing down a list of boys in her class, when her eyes cloud over and she gives into her daydream of Chat and his fangs that has been beckoning her all morning. She's supposed to be searching for him, but she can't seem to get her mind off of him long enough to do so.

She's running her hand over her neck where she's done a better job of hiding her latest love bite when someone drops into the seat next to her.

She nearly shrieks when she looks up to see Adrien sitting there, grinning at her a bit lopsidedly. She attempts to smile back at him instead.

Her heart continues to pound even after she's calmed down.

What is wrong with her lately?

"Want to be partners?" he asks her.

_Partners?_

Marinette quickly looks at the board, realizing that they are meant to be paired off for some sort of History project right now. She had forgotten she's even _in_ HIstory at the moment. She's lucky Alya is sick today, or else she'd be giving her friend the third degree.

"S - Sure," she stutters, wondering _why_ she's reverting back into fourteen year old Marinette tendencies with him. "Um, what are we supposed to be doing?"

He laughs at this. "A bit spaced out today, are you? It's just picking a current event. Something to talk about next class for a five minute presentation. Everyone is probably going to pick a recent Akuma attack."

"Oh, oh right. Yeah that's pretty simple. Shouldn't be too difficult. We can be together - _partners!_ We can be partners," she squeaks, trying to regain composure. It goes out the window the minute he grabs her notebook.

"What's this? Already working on something?"

"No, wait!" she cries, trying to grab it back. He stretches his hand out so she can't reach. It's the second time a boy has done this to her in the past few days, and it makes her huff.

"This is - this is a list of boys who go to our school," he says, turning to her with excitement. "What are you doing making a list of boys who go to our school, Marinette?"

Marinette growls slightly, pulling Adrien by the shirt down to her level so that what she says next isn't for anyone else's prying ears. He doesn't seem to mind being handled by her, smiling brightly as she brings him closer as if this is a daily occurrence.

"If you must know, I'm trying to figure out who Chat is," she tells him. "And the only reason I'm telling _you_ this is because you know about us."

"So there is an _us_ when it comes to you guys? You're an item?"

"Yes, I mean…" She pauses, blinking. "I think we are. We haven't actually talked about it, but I'm certain we are."

She doesn't tell him that putting a label on their relationship makes it feel more insignificant than it is. That, _yes,_ she considers him her boyfriend, and she wants to be his girlfriend more than anything. But they're more than that. They've always been more than that.

He's her Knight. Her partner. Her sword.

He has her back in ways no one but Chat would ever understand.

"I'm not on this list," Adrien points out when she releases him. He scans it again, frowning. "Why didn't you put me on the list?"

"You've already admitted to knowing Chat! Not _being_ Chat!"

"I could be Chat Noir."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

Marinette laughs, covering her mouth when it becomes a snort. "I'm sorry - I just…"

To her surprise, Adrien smirks. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I don't," she says, shaking her head. "Not at all."

"Okay then," he says, handing her the notebook back. "If you don't think I'm Chat then why don't you let me help you with your search?"

"And why would I do that? He may not want you to find out who he is."

"I don't have to know for certain to help you. You can figure it out, and keep it to yourself. Besides, I've been such a good wingman, haven't I? Without me you wouldn't have that hickey on your neck that I can clearly still see through your foundation."

Marinette's hand flies up to cover her neck, her cheeks a furious red. She had been so certain she covered it. "How did you -"

"Let me help you again," he says, cutting her off. "Please, Mari. I want to."

He fixes her with a pouty expression she knows well from the photographs that used to grace her wall. The ones now crammed into her bedroom trash bin.

She can't resist.

"Fine," she relents with a sigh. "But we're doing this by my rules. I want to find him on my own terms. It's important to me. So absolutely no pushing when it comes to this."

Adrien grins, saluting her. "Wingman Agreste, reporting for duty."

* * *

Days go by, and Marinette doesn't feel as if she's any closer to unmasking Chat.

She wonders if she's trying hard enough, or if she's simply distracted by Adrien. He's oddly invested in their search, showing up to school nearly every day with new possible leads. They're all ridiculous in Marinette's mind, and do nothing but throw her off any possible trails.

Today's list of leads are the most obscure yet, however, and she stares at him with her mouth slightly agape.

"So, what do we know about Chat Noir?" Adrien starts, pointing to a white board they've acquired in an abandoned classroom with a little laser pointer. He's scribbled out all the information she's given him, and some he's made up himself. Frankly, it's not much. "Other than he's tall and handsome, of course."

He underlines the words _tall_ and _incredibly handsome_ scribbled next to a poorly drawn Chat with his laser pointer. The words _nice jawline_ are underneath them, apparently running off from that bit of info.

"Oh my god."

She's starting to regret offering to let him help her, and she's really regretting staying after school for this. She could be at home right now, napping before patrol.

Adrien ignores her groan, but his lips quirk slightly letting her know that he's tuned in to her at least.

"We also know that he goes to this school, according to you," he continues, maneuvering his laser pointer to the word _scholarly._

Marinette raises an eyebrow at this.

"Anything else?"

"He likes puns, and he has a sense of humor?" she offers. "He likes to make people laugh."

She watches as Adrien scribbles out _superior sense of humor._

"I'm beginning to think maybe _you_ have a crush on Chat Noir," she tells him, laughing.

He winks at her and she stops laughing immediately, her face turning bright red. She shakes her head, hoping he hasn't noticed. What's happening to her lately? She hasn't acted this way around Adrien in a long time.

"Anything else you want to add?" he asks, his back to her now as he studies his whiteboard. "Dreamy? Good kisser?"

"I don't think any of that would help with finding him."

"You could go around kissing people until you found him."

"I'm not doing that!"

"You can start with me, if you want. I'm willing to take one for the team."

"Chat!" Marinette scolds before catching herself, mortified. _Why_ did she just call him that? Sure, they were bantering like she and Chat normally do, but still. He's staring at her with wide eyes and Marinette drops her head in her hands so she doesn't have to look at him. "I mean Adrien. I'm sorry. I don't know why I called you Chat. I guess you just reminded me of him for a moment."

Adrien doesn't say anything for a long moment, almost as if he's waiting on something. Likely for Marinette to finally look at him again. She peeks at him from between her fingers only to find him right there in front of her, hands perched on her table as he leans over at her.

His shocked expression is gone and he's smirking a bit lopsidedly at her.

"You sure you don't want to add me to your list, Mari?"

"No! Stop messing with me!" she cries, remembering through her embarrassment that she did have something else to tell Adrien. "Hey, I just thought of something."

"Hmm," he hums. He looks a bit disappointed, likely in her stopping his game. "What is it?"

"Chat...he doesn't have fangs when he's not transformed."

Adrien blinks. "Right?"

"Well, what if other things about him change too. Like eye color or something?"

"That is something to consider," Adrien says, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "What if he's not really blonde. What if he has blue hair or something? Would that be a turn off?"

Marinette shakes her head. His hair had remained the same when they switched Kwamis one time, so she assumes he's naturally blonde.

"I don't think his hair changes," she says. "Besides...Luka had blue hair, and I don't think Chat is Luka."

Besides the fact that Luka doesn't even go to her school, their personalities are completely different.

Luka has always been soft spoken with her. Careful around her.

Chat leans in with all of his affection because he knows she can handle it.

"Luka is definitely not Chat Noir," Adrien agrees, almost aggressively so.

"Whoa," Marinette says, surprised. Her eyes widen. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Do you not like Luka?"

"I like Luka just fine," Adrien admits, though it looks like it pains him to do so. "He's a good guy. He's just nothing like Chat."

Marinette smiles softly. "He's not."

"You never answered my question from a while ago."

She tilts her head at him. "What question?"

"Did you break up with Luka because you liked Chat?"

Something in his expression shocks her. It's like he needs to know for some reason. Like it's killing him. Like it's been bothering him for some time now.

"I — I didn't necessarily _mean_ to," she starts, looking away from Adrien. "But whenever he would kiss me, I would wonder what it would be like to kiss Chat. Whenever Luka held my hand, I always felt like it was too loose. As if he could let go at any moment. But really — the moment I knew...ugh, this is so stupid."

She covers her eyes again, and Adrien pulls her hands away this time, forcing her to keep eye contact with him.

"What? No, tell me!"

"It was — it was something so simple that it's stupid. But one day I was walking home, and I noticed that the leaves were changing, and I thought about telling _Chat_ about it first. Not Luka. That's when I knew that I love Chat in a way I could never love Luka. I put Chat first. I've always put him first. I wanted to tell him everything first. Even simple things. _Especially_ simple things."

Adrien is staring at her with wide blow eyes. "You love him. You love Chat Noir."

"I know, I know," Marinette groans. "It's probably too soon to be saying something like that. I just - I've never felt this way about anyone. I can't help it."

"Oh my god," Adrien says, laughing. He looks positively gleeful. " _Oh my god._ You _love_ him!"

"You can't tell him," she says, fixing him with a look. "I know you're friends or _whatever,_ but you can't tell him."

"I would never," he says, going back to his whiteboard. He writes the words _swoon worthy_ next to the little Chat drawing. "But we better get back to work so you can tell him yourself. Poor guy. He has no clue."

She isn't sure if her heart is pounding from the thought of confessing to Chat that she loves him, or from the grin Adrien flashes at her.

* * *

Chat is looking at her like something wonderful has happened.

Marinette can't quite place what it could possibly be. After all, she herself has just gotten settled for the night after a particularly long day at school. Adrien had talked her into spying and eavesdropping on several leads he thought were promising.

Needless to say, they weren't.

All they managed to accomplish from their game of spies had been the sharing of a snack underneath some stairs while having to sit shoulder to shoulder. Granted, Adrien had his cook pack some spectacular pastries that he refused to give the recipe for, claiming that she already lived in a bakery. What more could she possibly want from him?

She is still a bit miffed at him over it, and determines that the pastries will be her next case to crack.

"What?" she asks Chat after a long moment of him just staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

His ears twitch at the same time as his lips.

"Like what?"

"Like - like you _know_ something! Something I don't."

"What could I possibly know?" He's teasing her, his tone is the closest thing to mocking she's ever heard directed at her from him. "Are you sure you're _feline_ alright?"

"Oh my god," she groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Shouldn't you be on patrol right now?"

"Finished early," he answers, moving closer towards where she's sitting on the floor in front of her bed. She narrows her eyes as he crawls up to her. He's up to something. "Paris is quiet tonight."

"So you decided to come see me?"

"Can't a cat drop in unannounced on his girlfriend?"

"You haven't asked me to be your girlfriend," Marinette counters, though her heart flutters.

"Forgive me. My lips have been otherwise preoccupied around you. Will you be my girlfriend? I adore you."

Marinette feigns thought as he kisses her cheek. She wonders if he can feel the heat underneath his lips.

"Hmm," she hums, eyes cast to the ceiling. "Maybe. Ask me again once I've figured out who you are."

" _Princess,"_ he whines. "Don't tease. It's not nice."

Marinette laughs both at his stricken face and the absolute audacity Chat has at asking someone else not to be a tease.

She raises her hands to cup his face, and he melts into them like putty. She watches as his whole body relaxes, and the lines worrying around the little corners of what she can make of his eyes underneath the mask ease.

He is weak for her.

She treats him with care because of it.

"I'll say yes," she tells him softly. Kindly. "I promise. Just wait to ask me until then. Please."

"I can't deny you anything. You know that," he says earnestly. "Just find me soon, please."

"I'm trying kitty. I may not have found you yet, but I will."

"I believe you, My Lady," he says. "You've never failed me before."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! I've had so much fun with this silly little fic. It was my first time writing for MLB, but certainly won't be my last.

**Chapter Four**

Saturday morning finds Marinette attempting to sleep in, but being disrupted from such a luxury by the tickling of her feet.

Thinking that it's simply her blankets being out of sorts from a night of tossing and turning, she attempts to kick them back out only to come in contact with something hard. Her eyes fly open when she hears someone howl.

"Jesus, Mari," the voice groans. "Remind me to never tickle you awake again."

Her first thought is the voice at the foot of her bed belongs to Chat. She's so certain that it's Chat that when she sits up and sees Adrien sitting there her blush is a delayed reaction. Her heart is pounding wildly at the fact that she's mistaken Adrien for Chat for the second time, and it takes her longer than it normally would have to question why in the world _Adrien Agreste_ is sitting in her bed.

"What are you doing here?" she asks finally. She squints at the clock next to her. "It's nine in the morning! On a Saturday! I could be sleeping right now!"

"I came to see you," he replies simply. "And I've been up for two hours now. How long do you normally sleep on the weekends?"

"Noon," she answers. Unless there's an Akuma attack, of course, but Adrien doesn't need to know that. Tikki normally wakes her when something like that happens.

Marinette freezes.

_Tikki._

Where is Tikki?

Marinette's eyes dart wildly across her room. Surely if Adrien had seen Tikki he would have brought it up. Tikki is clever enough to hide often even before Marinette herself can instruct her to do so. Tikki is likely carefully tucked away somewhere.

She is probably worrying over nothing.

" _Noon,"_ Adrien repeats, causing Marinette to look back over at him. "Most of the day is gone by that point!"

She snorts. "No it isn't. I'm more of a night owl anyway. There is nothing that could persuade me to get up earlier."

He looks smug. A look he never would have worn around her at fourteen, but one he often does now.

"Obviously I did."

"You tickled me. You played a dirty trick to get me up. That's hardly persuasion. It's trickery."

Adrien laughs. He clearly finds her greatly amusing, and she is not in the mood for it today.

"You're so dramatic."

"Says the boy who scoffs at someone sleeping till noon. I'll have you know that's a perfectly acceptable time for someone to sleep to. Especially a teenager."

"If I slept till noon, my dad would think I'd died."

"Ugh, early birds," Marinette says, tossing the blankets back over her head and laying back down.

"Hey, no. None of that," Adrien says, tugging on the covers. Marinette pulls back and they find themselves evenly matched, neither willing to budge. "Get up! I have a whole day planned!"

"Who let you in here anyway?"

"I snuck in through the window."

"No you didn't."

"I used the front door. Your parents let me in of course."

Marinette gives up on the battle with her covers, sending Adrien flying off her bed when he doesn't expect the lack of pull on her part. She watches him twist through the air, landing on his feet at the last possible second.

"Hmm," she muses, looking over the side of her bed. "Impressive."

"Thanks. I've been shoved off lots of buildings so I have tons of practice."

He's joking. Surely. Though maybe not as she thinks on it a bit harder. She's seen him fall off a building once before, and with the amount of Akuma attacks it's not unusual for people to get pushed from buildings. Especially lately as they get more and more violent.

She shakes her head, willing the image of Adrien falling through the air out of her head.

"You're an idiot," she says instead.

"Yet, you love me."

"I've never admitted to that."

He grins. She notices his lack of fangs, almost disappointedly so. "Haven't you though?"

Marinette's eyes narrow at his cheek before widening as she realizes something he said earlier.

"Wait...my parents know you're up here," she says frantically. "They let a boy up here in my room? _Alone?"_

"They trust me. Have you never had a boy in your room before?"

Marinette's mind flashes to Chat and all the things he's done to her in this room. Against the wall. On the bed. Her cheeks flood with color.

She's had a boy in her room alright.

"Of course I have," she says, hoping down from her bed. "You've been in here before. I just didn't expect my parents to send a boy in to wake me up."

"Like I said, they trust me. They even gave me permission to take you out for the day."

"Take me out?" Marinette repeats. She beats fourteen year old Marinette bursting with excitement down with a broom. "What are you —"

"Our mission, _Mari,"_ he says, cutting her off and gesturing wildly. "We have to find Chat!"

"How are we going to do that if we're not at school? All I know is that he goes to our school. I doubt walking around on the streets is going to help. He could be anywhere."

"Well, you certainly aren't going to find him sleeping until noon," he counters. "How do you know it won't help if you don't try it?"

"You're weirdly invested in this," Marinette points out.

"I am the perfect amount of invested in this. Now get dressed. I have a couple of places in mind to start with."

Marinette groans, but shuffles her way to her bathroom to get ready for the day. It should be a crime to be up so early on the weekend, but she doesn't have the energy to fight Adrien.

She never does.

She wonders why that is.

* * *

Marinette isn't sure if Adrien really has a plan for the day or not.

It feels as though they've just been wandering around randomly throughout Paris all morning, only stopping whenever Adrien finds himself distracted by something interesting. Or the least bit shiny.

It's exhausting for someone who didn't get the proper amount of sleep.

"I'm starting to think you don't actually know what you're doing," she says, walking beside him with her hands tucked in her coat pockets.

It's far too cold for a bug.

"Have some faith in me M — Mari," Adrien says, stumbling over her name. He shivers and she assumes he's cold too. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Really? Because I'm starting to wonder if you just didn't want to spend the day alone, and you don't actually have vested interest in finding Chat today."

Adrien grins at her. "Why can't it be both?"

Marinette rolls her eyes, letting a small snort of laughter bubble over. It takes her a moment to consider the fact that she hasn't even once thought about how fourteen year old Marinette would be handling this since they left her house.

Is this a sign of growth?

"Okay, Adrien," she says, bumping her shoulder against his. "What would you like to do today? Really?"

"Hmm," he hums, clearly feigning thought. He grabs her by the elbow, directing her a few steps down where she comes face to face with the cinema. "How about a movie?"

"A movie?" she repeats.

"You know, the thing to project onto a screen. You can get popcorn and candy —"

"I know what a movie is!"

She had been wrong earlier about not worrying about fourteen year old Marinette, because now she most definitely is considering having a colossal level freak out that would put fourteen year old Marinette to shame.

Adrien Agreste is wanting to see a movie with her.

And this time it isn't because she accidentally ran into him while he was trying to sneak away to see one.

He came to her house to get her. He thought of her first. His actual intent is to spend time with her.

They certainly aren't going to find Chat in a dark theater.

"So," Adrien says, suddenly looking shy. "Do you want to go to a movie... with me?"

Marinette looks up at him, mouth open and possibly looking a bit stupid. He doesn't seem to mind, his features softening as he smiles at her in a way that's more natural than his photo shoots.

He's not asking her out on a date, she knows. He knows she's with Chat.

What harm could possibly come out of going to a movie with Adrien?

Besides possible self combustion, of course.

Still, she hears herself say, "Okay."

And watches as his features light up brighter than all of Paris.

* * *

It's dark inside the theater, and Marinette finds herself grabbing onto the material of Adrien's shirt by the elbow to keep herself moving forward without stumbling.

He doesn't seem to mind or find her odd. Instead, he slows down his pace to guide her better.

"You okay?" he asks, looking over his shoulder.

"Just...dark," she admits, blinking as she tries to focus on him. "Hard to see."

"Not everyone is blessed with night vision."

She can hear, more than see his smile. She rolls her eyes. Still, she wonders momentarily if he really _does_ have night vision. She can't see a thing, and he has to help her find a seat.

Is it normal for it to be this dark?

Maybe they're just early, she determines, looking around and finding that they're the only ones here. Adrien shifts beside her, and her eyes adjust enough to the darkness to see him watching her with great interest.

"What?" she asks.

He blinks, as if not expecting her to notice him looking. "Oh — nothing. It's nothing. Want some popcorn?"

He holds the bucket out as an offering. He purchased it as well as their tickets as an olive branch for dragging her out of bed before noon, and she takes a handful.

"You really didn't have to pay for me," she says again for the fifth time. Her mouth is full of popcorn this time though, and it's fresh and warm and she melts into the taste like the butter on top of it. "Mmmm."

Adrien laughs but there's a fondness to it. All of his features settle into softness when he looks at her, and she finds it hard to breathe.

Which is unfortunate, because she's got popcorn lodged in her throat now and chokes.

The sounds she makes are anything but pretty. It sounds like she's lurching, wheezing for air, and she feels Adrien thump her on the back.

How extremely mortifying.

She wishes the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

"Are you okay?" he asks, rubbing circles on her back when she's finally managed to dislodge a kernel from her throat.

"Yeah," she mumbles, embarrassed. She takes a sip of her drink, thanking whoever she can think of that it's likely too dark for Adrien to properly see her blush. "I'm fine. Just...clumsy. As you well know."

What is _wrong_ with her?

She's in love with Chat. She's _dating_ Chat. She's making out with Chat nearly every single night he comes over until she can't think straight.

She shouldn't be acting this way around Adrien unless she…

Unless she still _likes_ him.

But that shouldn't be possible.

It _couldn't_ be possible.

It would make her a wretched person if she were to like two guys at once.

"I like that you're clumsy," Adrien tells her. His hand moves from her back to linger on the armrest next to her own. She's so aware of it that the hair on her arms stand. "I think it's cute."

Oh _no._

Oh _no no no._

This cannot possibly be happening. She cannot like two guys at once. Not when she worked so hard to get over Adrien. Not when this thing with Chat has been going so well.

_Chat._

Her heart sinks when she thinks of him. What would he think of her being alone in a theater with Adrien?

Especially since he is aware of her former crush on the model. Guilt starts to bubble up inside of her to the point of boiling. Chat would be heartbroken if he knew that she's sitting here, heart fluttering over a boy other than him.

He's never been anything but faithful. Reliable. Her trusted partner in all things.

And she is letting her teenage hormones over a boy with blonde hair and green eyes who thinks she's cute when she's clumsy get the better of her.

She blinks.

Chat has blonde hair and green eyes too.

Perhaps she has a type.

Maybe that's all it is.

Chat and Adrien _are_ fairly similar in more than just looks. Maybe Adrien — who looks similar to Chat — is also acting similarly to Chat that it's causing the same sort of reaction in her…

That must be it.

Surely that's all it is.

She's not a bad person.

Fingers link around her own in the next second, tugging on her hand so she's pulled towards Adrien, forced to look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asks, smiling softly and still holding her hand in his. They're nearly nose to nose.

Her whole body feels on fire from the fingers intertwined with her own. His touch is threatening to leave her in a puddle on the floor when she realizes the way he's looking at her.

Like a boy in love.

The way...the way _Chat_ looks at her.

It's his eyes that do it in the end. The puzzle piece she had been looking for in everyone, but never looking close enough at Adrien to see if it fit. She hadn't allowed herself to look at Adrien that way, and now she feels _so stupid._

His eyes are the same exact shade of green as her Chaton's. More than that, they're looking at her the same way Chat's eyes always have.

Like he has tunnel vision and she's the only thing he can focus on.

She swallows, part of her still holding onto the fact that she could be wrong. That she would have noticed if Chat sat beside her every single day. Surely, surely she would have noticed. He's her _partner_ for goodness sake.

Her eyes drift from Adrien's to rest on his neatly kept hair. Always styled just so. Chat's hair is always wild, always every single lock out of place.

She's never seen Adrien with his hair like that.

She wonders...

She doesn't realize what her own hand is doing until her fingers begin to weave their way into his tresses, begin to brush and settle his hair until it's in an entirely un-Adrien like style. Until it's messy. Until it looks like someone else.

Until she realizes that Adrien is…

" _Chat?"_

She whispers his name, but she knows he hears her. She can tell it in the way his face breaks out into the charming smile she normally sees on her partner. The way he lets out a breath he's probably been holding since she's been trying to find him. Since he's been not so secretly attempting to help her find him, and all the while she's been fighting him tooth and nail.

She's been so, so oblivious.

Adrien is Chat.

Chat is Adrien.

She's been _making out_ with _Adrien Agreste_ this entire time.

Overwhelmed with the fact, she begins to cry. Which is absolutely embarrassing and the _last_ thing she'd ever thought she'd do when she finally managed to find him.

Yet, here she sits, sobbing in the back row of a theater because her Chat and her Adrien are _the same person._

"Oh, My Lady," Adrien — _Chat —_ whispers, leaning into her to cup her cheeks. His thumbs make quick work brushing away the tears that spill. "Don't cry. Please don't cry. I can't handle it when you do."

"It's — it's _you,"_ she says, choking through her sobs. "It's always been you, and I've been so _blind!"_

The screen lights up and the added light helps to define the features on Adrien that Marinette knows are already there. His hair is disheveled, his eyes are bright. She's looked into those eyes so many times, and never knew fully who had been looking back at her. She's kissed the corner of his mouth that is currently switching with mirth at her state.

This causes her to remember something.

They're quite possibly the only ones in the theater. She certainly hopes so, for she's certain any onlooker would find her pushing Adrien's upper lip up to look for fangs peculiar.

The fact that they aren't there makes her start, even if she knew they wouldn't be.

"No fangs," she whispers, still holding his lip up. He blinks at her, amused, as she tilts his head at an angle just to make sure. "They're really not there, are they?"

"Afraid not," he says when she finally releases him. "Told you they weren't."

She leans back against the wall of the theater, trying to create the illusion of space. She needs room to breathe. Previews are beginning to play for movies about to come out in the future, but Marinette can't pay them any mind. All she can focus on is Adrien.

Adrien.

Adrien is the one who doesn't have fangs. Adrien is the one she's been kissing. Adrien is Chat.

She still cannot wrap her head around it.

It doesn't seem possible.

"Oh, dear," he sighs, pushing his armrest up. He scoots closer towards her where she's backed away from him like a frightened animal. "You're about to have one of your freak outs, aren't you?"

Marinette blinks. "My what?"

"You're infamous freak outs," he repeats. "You're on the verge of one. I can see it in your eyes. They're crazy."

"My eyes are _not_ crazy."

Adrien smirks. It's a Chat smirk. Her heart flutters.

"Of course not. They're beautiful," he says, leaning into her. "Come here, My Lady. Let me look at you."

Marinette melts at his words. Her heart puddles at the way he calls her by such a familiar nickname and laces it with affection. Her Adrien, her Chat. They are the same person.

Adrien is the one tracing her bottom lip currently.

Chat is the one watching as her lips part, eyes darting to them with vested interest.

Adrien is the scoundrel Chat has told her about.

And, _oh,_ he is a scoundrel, and she would have never considered Adrien to be such a thing, but he kisses her like one as Chat and she wants him to do it again as himself.

She watches the exact moment he realizes what she wants click in his eyes, and he looks so smug she nearly snorts.

"Is that what it's going to take to bring you to your senses?" he teases, leaning in. "Should've known."

It's different, she wagers, kissing someone without a mask on for the first time. Adrien has done it as Chat countless times. But this is Marinette's first time, so when Adrien closes the distance between them, she keeps her eyes open.

She wants to see this.

She wants to see that it's Adrien really kissing her. To see the habits she's come to know so well from Chat when he's kissing her unfold in Adrien.

He cups her face without cat-clawed gloves just as perfectly and her heart jolts. He nips at her bottom lip the way he always does — this time with significantly less fang — and her heart flutters.

When his tongue sweeps into her mouth — _oh, that's nice —_ her heart jumps into her throat.

Can he feel it there, she wonders. She thinks he must when the knuckles of his right hand caress her neck and they linger just shy of it.

It registers then, in between that moment where she tilts her head and sighs into his mouth, that this is really him.

Adrien.

Chat.

It all makes perfect sense.

Feeling nearly on the verge of tears again, Marinette throws herself at him, heart soaring at the way he's expecting it as he laughs against her lips.

Thank _god_ for the armrest behind him so that they're steadied, Marinette thinks. She's all over him, nearly on top of him, and she swears she can hear the faint rumbling of a purr rumbling from his chest.

"It's you," she whispers, lips reaching wherever they can. "I can't believe it's really you."

She never expected this feeling when she considered all the possibilities of finding him. She never thought of how much she would get to discover of Chat without the mask. All the bits of skin she hadn't been able to touch, she lets her lips roam.

She feels hungry for him. Starved in a way she didn't expect.

She'll get them kicked out of the theater if this goes on any longer. Still, she lets her hand explore the skin beneath Adrien's shirt, marveling at the way it's fit and firm beneath her palm. She adds her other hand, and a muscle twitches beneath it.

Saving Paris has been quite kind to him, apparently. She makes a note to thank Hawkmoth at the next Akuma attack.

Which comes sooner than expected, of course.

Marinette is well on her way to moving her hands up Adrien's chest when there's a loud explosion outside of the theater.

* * *

Hawkmoth doesn't care that Chat is fit.

Apparently.

Which is a shame, because, well… _look at him._

Ladybug, ever polite as she is, still made note to thank him nonetheless, but it had been met with a long winded speech on how he would obtain their Miraculous' eventually.

She had simply shrugged and tuned out, teenage hormones taking over and allowing her mind to slip into a daydream involving Adrien and an uninterrupted theater. If Hawkmoth made any more irrational claims, Marinette is none the wiser to them.

She sighs, dreamily.

She finds herself back in her room after having to spend a majority of her afternoon aiding citizens that had been affected in the attack in more ways than her ladybugs could fix. She hadn't been able to continue her date with Adrien, nor had she been able to catch back up with him after the Akuma attack. His father had called for him to come home immediately, and Marinette knew enough about Gabriel Agreste to know that Adrien couldn't fight it.

At least not right at that moment.

It didn't matter.

She knew he would be on his way soon. His patrol would be over in the next few minutes, and if he's as impatient as she thinks he is, he's already halfway to her house by now.

She spins in her chair, sighing again. How is it possible she could be so oblivious and yet so very lucky?

Fourteen year old Marinette is flipping out and seventeen year old Marinette is joining her. They're clinking champagne glasses together and toasting.

_Adrien Agreste loves her._

_Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir._

He's been her best friend and her crush since they were fourteen. The universe, fate, or whatever it is out there certainly has a sense of humor.

There's a knocking from her window and a second later Chat drops in, stealthy and quiet.

" _Purrrincess,"_ he says, smiling. She bites her bottom lip at the sight of his fangs. "I've missed you."

"You just saw me," Marinette points out, laughing.

"Doesn't mean I didn't miss you. We were rudely interrupted, if you'd be so kind as to recall. And right when I was enjoying myself too."

"Hmm," she muses, standing from her chair and walking slowly towards him. "Perhaps you deserve to have your little moment interrupted. After all the games you've been playing on me."

" _With_ you," Chat corrects, grinning. "Never on you. I'm nothing but a perfect gentleman."

Marinette snorts, flicking him by the bell on his suit. The mask does nothing to hide his blush.

"A gentleman would have been upfront with his lady from the beginning. He would have simply told her, _a year ago,_ that he knew who she was."

"Being a gentleman doesn't mean I can't also have my fun."

She rolls her eyes. Typical Chaton.

"What was it that I said anyway that gave me away? You never did tell me."

"You fell asleep one day in class, which was adorable, mind you," he says, nuzzling his nose into her temple. "And you started dreaming apparently over me messing up one of your plans. You talk in your sleep. Did you know?"

" _What?"_

"' _Chat!'_ you said, ' _I told you to wait for my signal! Stupid cat!'"_ His nuzzling continues and she is faintly aware of the pause he makes to breathe her scent in. "I nearly fell over in the middle of class."

"I can't believe that. Did — did anyone else…"

"No one else heard. Alya was gone that day and I sat next to you instead. Can you _imagine_ if she had been the one to find out instead?"

Marinette has a very vivid picture of Alya screaming at her inside her mind. She'd have to make up not telling her by offering endless interviews.

Thank goodness it hadn't been Alya instead.

"Ugh, how embarrassing, you finding out like that. Of all possible scenarios."

"Hmm. I think I'd use the term endearing."

"Of course you would," she says, rolling her eyes. She takes a step back, and Chat looks at her with a slightly stricken expression at the small distance she's put between them. "Still, it doesn't take away from the fact that you knew and didn't tell me. And it doesn't take away from the fact that you treated this as a game as Adrien."

"I tried to tell you it was me! You wouldn't listen!" Chat cries, pulling her by the hand and trying to bring her back to him. "Princess, please! I've been on edge since the theater. Don't do this to me now."

"The theater!" Marinette says, snapping her fingers. "That's another thing! You never intended to help me find Chat today. You always intended for this to be a date."

"You were taking so long, and I'm an impatient kitty. What would you have me do? Go back in time a year and tell you from the beginning?"

Marinette smirks, crossing her arms. "That's certainly a thought."

"Fine. _Claws off!"_

Chat fades away in a flash of green and suddenly Adrien is standing there, smiling at her. Despite the fact that she knows Chat is Adrien, she blushes. Enough time has passed from the cinema to now that she's grown shy again.

"What — what are you doing?"

"I can't go back in time," Adrien explains, taking advantage of her being stunned by him to get closer to her again, "but I can start over."

"Start over?"

"I do enjoy a good game, as you've no doubt noticed," Adrien teases, nuzzling her nose with his. _Oh,_ he's Chat in every single way. "How about a starting over game?"

She feels herself caving. Melting.

She can never fight him for too long.

"And how does that go? This starting over game?"

He grins.

It's Chat's grin minus the fangs. She swoons.

"Like this. Hello, my name is Adrien Agreste," he introduces himself, and maybe the nuzzling _isn't_ just a Chat thing. She giggles as he tries to nuzzle her everywhere. "And I think I love you."

"You love me?" she teases, eyes bright. "Oh dear. Such a shame. I love Chat Noir, you see."

"Oh, haven't you heard?" He nips at her neck. Her pulse point runs wild. "I'm him."

"You are!" She feigns being shocked. "Oh my! Imagine that. Can I tell you a secret, Adrien?"

"Of course. I'm very good at keeping them. Especially for an entire year."

"I used to have the biggest crush on you when I was fourteen," Marinette says, looping her arms around his neck. "Sometimes I still think that I might."

"How very lucky for me then, that I'm both Chat and Adrien," he says, encircling her waist. "The entire package. I'm surprised you haven't gotten a concussion yet from how hard you must be swooning."

"So modest."

He smiles. Genuine and boyish.

Her heart flutters.

"Marinette?"

"Adrien?"

He grins. Playful and mirth filled.

Her stomach flips.

"My Lady?"

"Chaton?"

"I find myself very much in love with you. Please say you love me back. I might die if you don't."

"How convenient it is, then, that I do love you back."

He kisses her then.

Her Chat. Her Adrien.

Right there in her bedroom where it all started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment!

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to comment!


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